The South Delhi Municipal Corporation has decided to go receptacle or dhalao free, beginning with its central zone. Officials said this will be accomplished with the help of ‘Fixed Compactor Transfer Stations’ (FCTS), a garbage compressing system that will facilitate transport of garbage to sanitary landfill sites (SLFs).

Dhalaos are large three-walled concrete structures meant for collection of garbage from a locality or market. When collection from such receptacles is delayed, the garbage spills on to the road, raising concerns about sanitation and disease outbreak. Of the 85 compactor stations in the pipeline for the SDMC, five are already functional at Lajpat Nagar, Tughlakabad, Kalkaji, Sarita Vihar and Kotla.

The project involves primary collection of waste from the streets through auto tippers. Then, the waste is transported in covered primary vehicles to the FCTS . The compressed waste is then taken to the waste-to-energy plant.

According to officials, the project “lays great emphasis on segregation based on the three R Concepts — Reduce, Recycle and Reuse”. “The implementation of the project will result in disposal of maximum quantity of waste and minimum left over garbage to be dumped at the SLF site,” said an official.

The corporation believes that the new FCTS will bring a “remarkable change” with regard to collection and disposal of garbage.

While commissioning the first five FCTS, Commissioner P K Goel had stated, “We will have 15 FCTS and 32 mobile compactors in the central zone, which will help in the disposal of at least half the garbage being generated in the zone. Presently, 650 MT (metric tonnes) of garbage is generated in the zone.” He had also announced that the entire cost of the project — which includes as many as 250 auto tippers, mobile compactors, FCTS and hook loaders — will be Rs 80 crore. One FCTS will cost Rs 40 lakh, he had said.

The earlier concept involved separate agencies for primary collection of garbage through auto tippers, and secondary disposal through mobile compactors/dumper placers. The cost in the earlier method was approximately Rs 2,600 per MT.

The new operation is considered more economical as the cost per tonne will come to Rs 1,727 per MT.